Animal life
Wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus
Zoology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of animals. embraces all forms of animal study, from the components of the body and the vital processes that sustain life, to the relations of individual animals or animal groups with one another and their environment.
Peter the Polar Bear
Peter the Polar Bear is one of the most popular exhibits and is on display in the Window on Our World which starts in the welcome area of the museum. When he died in August 1972 he was presented to the Ulster Museum by Belfast Zoo (click image to enlarge).He was carefully prepared and mounted for...
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Patrick
Patrick of Ifold was born on the 17 March 1923, St Patrick's Day and died on 8 May 1931, aged eight years old. He was owned by Mrs Beynon of Broadoak, Sutton-at-Hone, Kent.
Patrick was a very famous champion wolfhound during his lifetime. He won his first championship at 14 months old, at the Ri...
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Collections
Because zoology is such a huge subject, it is divided into a number of different areas of study. Those which we focus on in the Ulster Museum include morphology, genetics and evolution, taxonomy, ecology, and zoogeography.
The zoology collections contain over 350,000 specimens of ins...
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Marine
A purple sun star Solaster endeca found in Northern Ireland The Museum's Department of Zoology collects specimens and records of sea creatures by searching both onshore and below the surface. Museum staff work together with colleagues in the Northern Ireland Environment Agency who use the inform...
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The Wet Collection
Specimens of the brittlestar Ophiothrix fragilis preserved in ethanol.A large quantity of specimens is held in jars or tubes of spirit, usually alcohol with various additives. This is known as the wet collection. The specimens are mostly marine animals, collected in the course of diving surveys a...
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Insects and Invertebrates
The Animal Kingdom is made up of two main groups – animals with backbones (vertebrates) and animals without backbones (invertebrates). The vertebrates include fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. The invertebrates, a very much larger group include insects, animals with shells (mol...
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Vertebrates
The Animal Kingdom is made up of two main groups - animals with backbones (vertebrates) and animals without backbones (invertebrates). The vertebrates include fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. The invertebrates, a very much larger group include insects, animals with shells (molluscs)...
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Wildlife Art
King Vultures by Roger Tory Peterson, 20th century.From the first cave paintings of animals to the development of digital photography, illustration has played an essential role in the history of zoology. The museum has an extensive collection of nineteenth and twentieth- century zoological illust...
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Books, images and archives
Frontispiece of Neues systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet by Friedrich Wilhelm Martini commenced in 1769.The zoology department has an extensive collection of books on natural history. It also has complete runs of many scientific and natural history journals – access to these can be provided ...
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Identification service
The Greater Horntail Sawfly, Urocerus gigas, a large (40mm.) insect, is often brought to the museum for identification.It is usually mistaken for a hornet or thought to be dangerous. It is in fact a harmless insect despite its alarming appearance and behaviour. However, the larva (caterpillar sta...
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